Ron Johnson: Ayn Rand’s ‘Atlas’ alive today

Sen. Ron Johnson said there were “absolutely” parallels between the novel “Atlas Shrugged” and America today in an interview published Monday with a group that promotes the work of libertarian philosopher Ayn Rand, the book’s author.

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In the 1957 novel, society’s most productive and wealthy citizens go on strike to protest increased government taxes and regulation. Millions of copies have sold since the book’s release, and tens of thousands of copies are still sold each year.

“I’m not sure there are too many differences,” Johnson said later when asked what the differences between his philosophy and Rand’s were. “I guess when you take a look at the book Atlas Shrugged, I think most people always like to identify with the main character — that would be John Galt. I guess I identify with Hank Rearden, the fellow that just refused until the very end to give up. And I guess I’d like to think of myself more as a Hank Rearden — I’m not going to give up. America is something far, far too precious in the span of human history. I’ll never give up hope on America. I hope everybody that’s watching this will never give up hope.”

Rand’s philosophy places each human’s pursuit of their own self-interest above all other goals.

While Rand’s small-government ideas have enduring popularity with conservatives, their harshness and other elements of her Objectivist philosophy — her atheism, most notably — remain controversial, even on the right. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) boasted of his devotion to Rand for years before backing down in an interview in April 2012.

“I reject her philosophy,” Ryan said. “It’s an atheist philosophy. It reduces human interactions down to mere contracts and it is antithetical to my worldview.”